James E. Akenson
Over the years there has been a Hee Haw like despair regarding Country Music. It’s past was golden. The current state worthy of despair. The future could only be traumatic.
Thus…”gloom, despair, agony on me. Deep dark depression excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all.” The present and future of Country Music from this perspective isn’t a pretty picture.
It’s not new. Take a look at the book cover of “Storm Over Nashville: The Case Against Modern Country Music.” Back then…in 1980 the case was clear. Corbin told Nashville journalist Joe Edwards that “Modern country music is polluted in its presentation and its lyric content like references to illicit sex.”
He also said that Kenny Rogers and Australian Olivia Newton-John weren’t Country. He also didn’t care for recent work by Willie Nelson, Barbara Mandrell, and Dolly Parton. Nashville spews forth the equivalent of industrial pollution.
There’s always a crisis. In the 2020s blame also gets the same blame mentioned by Corbin….the radio stations and Country Music establishment. There’s always a crisis. Good thing Corbin didn’t live to see Jelly Roll, Elle King, and Post Malone. It would truly be Post Country Music. Then again. Just what IS Country Music, anyway?
Well now. I have some good news. There is at least one younger adult fan who values Country Music. Cullen McAlpin is a graduate student in English Education at Tennessee Tech University. As a future English teacher, Cullen McAlpin will have lots of opportunities to deal with Country Music and roots music in his teaching.
Over time, we’ve talked about his interest in music and particularly Bob Dylan. I know, Bob Dylan isn’t exactly a Country Music artist, but he does have lots of Country Music connections. We know that Dylan grew up, for instance, being enamoured with Hank Williams and recording in Nashville. We might expect Love Sick Blues but Dylan instead chose Love Sick. Most important, though is what did Cullen McAlpin think of Dylan’s performance. I wondered what he would think. I shared my copy of the MOJO “Dylan 1941-2022 Revisited.”
Recently, Cullen McAlpin obtained tickets for the Outlaw Music Festival tour that began in late June in Alpharetta, Georgia.
This was a father and son bonding experience at the Outlaw Music Festival venue in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Coastal Credit Union Music Park. Take a look at the pic. It’s BIG and can accommodate almost 20,000.
So how did Cullen McAlpin end up being a Country Music and roots music fan. Like a lot of folks, Cullen grew up with parents listening to Country Music. Since his father wanted to attend the Outlaw Music Festival to hear Willie Nelson, it’s not surprising that Cullen knew Willie Nelson from an early age.
Take a listen to Cullen as he describes his immersion in Country Music.
Cullen McAlpin didn’t take things lightly. He prepared. Why buy Tees or other merchandise (merch) when Cullen can create his own? He knows how to work special lettering equipment in the Jeffers Learning Resources Center at Tennessee Tech where he works as a graduate student. Cullen took care to make certain he honoured his father’s love of Willie Nelson with a pair of Tees for them to wear.
The front of one Willie Nelson Tee says “Gee Ain’t It Funny…” referencing the classic Willie Nelson song “Funny How Time Slips Away.” The back of the Tee places Willie Nelson at the top followed in descending order by Bob Dylan, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Celisse.
The second Tee featured black background and white lettering. The front lettering finished the phrase “how time slips away.” Now is that a way to prepare and for Cullen to bond with his father? I’d say so.
Willie Nelson was the motive for Cullen McAlpin’s father to attend the “Outlaw Music Festival.” Was Willie in top form. Sadly no. Willie cancelled the first concerts of the tour on doctor’s orders. Yes. Willie is 91 and has had some medical difficulties of late.
Disappointing, no? Disappointing, yes! But….what should we do when life gives us lemons. Correct! But, how can lemonade be created. After all you can’t make a silk purse from a swine’s ear. But…lemonade happened for Cullen and his father.
Lukas Nelson did a great set that included Willie Nelson songs and Lukas’ own material. Take a look. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Funny How Time Slips Away, On The Road Again are three of Willie penned songs. Whiskey River, written by Johnny Bush, also is a Willie staple.
Lukas Nelson also included references to icons of Country Music. Stay A Little Longer drew from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Workin’ Man Blues drew from Merle Haggard. If that weren’t enough, a medley of Will the Circle Be Unbroken? and I’ll Fly Away should firmly link Lukas Nelson to the Country Music universe.
Take a listen to what Cullen McAlpin had to say about Lukas Nelson.
Before we check out what Cullen McAlpin thought of the Bob Dylan experience, let’s see what Cullen thought of the set by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. The pairing of Bluegrass icon Alison Krauss and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin rock fame sounds strange. But…it isn’t new.
This isn’t the first time the two have been paired together for an extensive tour. Politics may make strange bedfellows, but music does as well. Yes, indeed. Jimmie Rodgers “The Father of Country Music” recorded Blue Yodel Number 9 (Standin’ On The Corner) with none other than Louis Armstrong and Armstrong’s wife Lilian Hardin back in 1930. That’s just one example of the long relationship between African American musicians and Country Music musicians.
Take a look at the set list for Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s performance. It doesn’t include Bluegrass classics. It does, though, include Led Zeppelin material such as The Battle of Evermore and Rock and Roll. The set included nods to the past in terms of Lil’ Millett and his Creoles Rich Woman and Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy’s When the Levee Breaks.
There might not have been any Bluegrass classics, but The Everly Brothers certainly have a connection to Country Music. Three Everly Brothers songs out of a set list of thirteen isn’t bad. Gone Gone Gone, Stick With Me Baby, and The Price of Love might not resonate like Wake Up Little Suzie but they are from Don and Phil’s body of work.
That brings us to the reason for Cullen McAlpin to drive from Cookeville, Tennessee to Raleigh, North Carolina…Bob Dylan. The set list certainly didn’t include some classics even I know. There wasn’t Blowing in the Wind, The Times They Are A Changing, You Ain’t Going Nowhere, or Positively Fourth Street.
Then again, I’m not exactly a Bob Kat despite having been at the University of Minnesota at the same time that Dylan was in Minneapolis. I’m not surprised by Highway 61 Revisited but some other songs surprised me. Mr. Blue by the Fleetwoods surprises me although I think it’s a great song.
Six Days On The Road shows Dylan’s roots in Country Music made popular by Dave Dudley. We know that Dylan grew up being enamoured with Hank Williams. We might expect Love Sick Blues, but Dylan instead chose Love Sick. Most important, though, is what did Cullen McAlpin think of Dylan’s performance? I wondered what he would think.
A Country Music friend of mine, Mark Dillon, posted on FaceBook that he thought Dylan’s performance was not great at all. Dillon’s response isn’t surprising given the long history of Dylan and reports on his performances.
Did Cullen agree with Mark Dillon’s assessment? Take a look and see.
Well, now, Little Queenie by Chuck Berry was a winner for Cullen McAlpin. Was it the ‘Mountain Top’ experience it could have been. Not quite. Cullen admitted Dylan’s performance was a bit disappointing. But…Cullen saw Bob Dylan! That made it worthwhile.
It also suggests that Bob Dylan might get a ‘pass’ from his fans when the effort isn’t quite what it might be. Being an enigmatic, puzzling, Noel Prize winning artistic personality let’s Dylan get away with less than stellar effort at times.
What can we say to conclude. This isn’t a five-paragraph essay, but I believe in conclusions and summaries. Is Country Music doomed? I don’t think so. With knowledgeable fans like Cullen McAlpin, fine Country Music of varied types will be produced and consumed.
The Outlaw Music Festival itself reflected Country Music roots as well as contemporary touches. That means Country Music isn’t dead. If Country Music is a family of sorts, then metaphorically and literally Cullen McAlpin, his father, the fans, and the artists of Outlaw Music Festival keep the Country Music circle unbroken.
Country Music will fly away. But Country Music will fly away to heavenly connections past and present. Country Music will tie us to our day-to-day endeavours.
Country on, Luke Bryan says. Yes. Country on.
